The present invention relates generally to gasoline burning internal combustion engines and more particularly to a system for and method of feeding gasoline fuel into an engine of this type.
Today, a typical gasoline burning internal combustion engine utilizing standard fuel feed apparatus receives liquid gasoline. In this standard apparatus, liquid gasoline is pumped into and through the engine's carburetor where it is mixed with air (atomized) and then ultimately through the intake manifold (through appropriate butterfly valves) and into the engine, the gasoline remaining liquid (theoretically atomized) before reaching this point. This particular method has several disadvantages. First, as the gasoline passes through the carburetor the venturis within atomize the fuel, but only to a limited extent. As a result of the partial atomization, the overall efficiency of the engine is reduced. Second, even if total atomization is attained, it has been found that this is never the less a relatively inefficient way to combust the fuel.
There is still another disadvantage resulting from the utilization of conventional feed apparatus for gasoline burning internal combustion engines. This relates more to the manner in which the gasoline is fed into the engine rather than its particular state. More specifically, in conventional feed apparatus, the amount of gasoline fed into the engine is dependent solely on what takes place at the fuel pump and associated throttle which is controlled directly by the operator. Accordingly, at a given throttle position, for example half-throttle (half power), the same amount of gasoline will be fed to the engine, regardless of the needed power to be developed by the engine to maintain or exceed its RPM rating at that throttle position. In the event that the engine requires more power and hence more fuel, for example in the case of a vehicle powered by the engine, when the vehicle starts up a hill, this fuel will not be provided unless the operator manually feeds more gasoline into the engine, that is, increased the throttle. In a similar fashion, when the vehicle starts down a hill less power and hence less fuel is required and yet the amount of fuel fed to the engine will not be reduced unless the operator manually does so by lowering the throttle level. It has been found that this required manual response to changes in power and fuel requirement by the engine also reduces the efficiency of gasoline usage.
As will be seen hereinafter, the present invention provides both a system for and method of feeding gasoline fuel into a gasoline burning internal combustion engine in a more efficient manner than heretofore attainable by conventional feed apparatus. As will also be seen, this is accomplished by vaporizing the gasoline outside of the engine, prior to combustion, and, in a preferred embodiment, this vaporized gasoline is automatically delivered to the engine in varying amounts depending upon the power developed by the engine, even though the throttle may remain in a fixed position.